---
title: Real life: why do kittens chase string? — Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked b… · tree and pragmatics
description: Real life: why do kittens chase string? Test 9 · ★ of lesson 94 «Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 2: the bargain, the Bat and the Baby» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wro
---

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# Test 9 · ★ · Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 2: t…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Real life: why do kittens chase string?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** kittens · **What happens:** chase · **To what, where:** string

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 9 · ★ of lesson 94 «Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 2: the bargain, the Bat and the Baby» of the books course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby/#t9).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby:t9:1
# text = Real life: why do kittens chase string?
1	Real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	7	punct	_	_
4	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	7	advmod	_	_
5	do	do	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	kittens	kitten	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	chase	chase	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
8	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **chase** | present · do-support | kittens | string |  |  |  |  | vn chase-51.6 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent string=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is play-hunting practice

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby:t9:o1:1
# text = It is play-hunting practice
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | hunting practice |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
They want to catch the string

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby:t9:o2:1
# text = They want to catch the string
1	They	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	want	want	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	to	to	PART	TO	_	4	mark	_	_
4	catch	catch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	xcomp	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	string	string	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **want** | present | They |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **catch** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | They *not said here* | the string |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent string=Theme |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is a game for old cats

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby:t9:o3:1
# text = It is a game for old cats
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	game	game	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
5	for	for	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	cats	cat	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | a game |  |  |  | for old cats | tree rules |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It is play-hunting practice for the time when they must catch real mice

<!-- fold The tree, 14 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby:t9:o4:1
# text = It is play-hunting practice for the time when they must catch real mice
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
3	play	play	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	hunting	hunting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	_
10	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	13	advmod	_	_
11	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	must	must	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	catch	catch	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	6	parataxis	_	_
14	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	mice	mouse	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | It | hunting practice |  |  | time |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **catch** | must | they | real mice |  |  |  |  | vn get-13.5.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mouse=Theme |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ← previous: [Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked b…, test 8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby/t8/)
- next →: [Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked b…, test 10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby/t10/)
- ↑ back to [Just So Stories, The Cat that Walked by Himself, part 2: the bargain, the Bat and the Baby](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/books/94-justso-cat-2-a-bargain-and-a-baby/)